Middle and late childhood spans the ages between early childhood and adolescence, approximately ages 6 to 11. Children enter middle childhood still looking very young, and end late childhood on the cusp of puberty. Children gain greater control over the movement of their bodies, mastering many gross and fine motor skills that eluded the younger child. Changes in the brain during this age enable not only physical development, but contributes to greater reasoning and flexibility of thought. While we don’t see the actual brain changing, we can see the effects of the brain changes in the way that children in middle and late childhood play sports, write, and play games.

Attribution

“Introduction to Physical Development in Middle Childhood” by Stephanie Loalada, Lifespan Development, Lumen Learning is licensed under CC BY 4.0

“Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective” by Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0